2017 and Non-Resolutions

2016 has been good to us in some ways but absolutely foul in others.  We have had sickness, redundancy, two bereavements, more sickness, the GC have had accidents requiring hospital treatment, the list goes on.  The number of famous, talented people we have lost this year seems to be at an unprecedented level too.  It's very sad and, to be honest, I will be very glad to see the back of 2016.  There are just a few hours to go, already it's the new year in Australia and the countdown begins everywhere.

May I wish all my followers and readers a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2017.  I hope only good things come your way....

I will not be making new year resolutions because I know I will fall at the first fence, but I promise I will carry on being frugal, helping others as much as possible and raising money for charity.

Are you making resolutions?

Have a great evening and a great 2017, thanks everso for popping in x

Frugal Eating Begins Here!

We did go into town yesterday as planned but parked on the outskirts of town and walked the rest of the way in order to get some exercise.  Erands done, we popped into Marks and Spensives just as these were being marked down.  They were too good to miss. ....

I bought two packs of potatoes, one has gone into the freezer for later on, one will be eaten tonight.  The slow cooker is on with some beef stew for OH which will feed him for two days and with a bit left to freeze (at least I hope so! ) The cream will be dolloped onto warm mince pies for pudding.

Today is a rest day.  No visitors , chores for the day are done, now there's a nice cup of tea with my name on it and a bit of knitting to carry on with.

Have a lovely day and thanks so much for popping in xxx

The Aftermath, A Walk & Bargain Hunting

Well it's all over now bar the shouting, as they say.  Food has been munched, drink has been drunk and except for a quick New Year's Eve drink we will be back to normal.  Nothing has been done to excess.

Yesterday had a very frosty start but we drove to Stourport and had a lovely brisk walk along the river in order to blow away the cobwebs.  It was lovely and fresh, making our cheeks and fingers glow with the cold but clearing our heads and waking us up.  On the way home we stopped at Sainsbugs and found some bargains.  The bread was 20p and has been frozen for toast, the wraps 24p have been separated into 3's interleaved with baking parchment for a quick defrost then re wrapped and frozen for lunches.  The spinach 40p will be used for Cornish Chickpea's lentil bake and we ate some sprouts with our tea last night. The pancakes 19p a pack have been frozen for another day and the Pains au Chocolat  20p will be eaten for an indulgent breakfast.  This is just the start of my frugal intent during January so watch this space....

There were lots of Christmassy things drastically reduced too.  I looked at them, picked them up and put them back.  The only things I bought were a 10metre roll of wrapping paper for 50p and 2 packs of tags @ 10p each.  The original price in total was £5 so not at all bad for 70p....

Have you succumbed to any sale bargains?  We might have a trip into town today but I really only want to buy a birthday gift for a friend's birthday.

Thanks so much for popping in.  I hope your Christmas was wonderful x

Merry Christmas One And All & New Year Planning

Today is an absolutely lovely day weather wise; bright and sunny with a crisp frosty start.  It was just the thing for a brisk walk, well wrapped up, of course, and then buying a few bits needed for Christmas.  Now we are home and warm so it's time for a bit of R & R .

The next two days will be spent baking and making a big pan of soup for quick meals later on when we are too stuffed for much else or too lazy to cook.  The freezer is full of bread, frozen veg, Quorn (in various forms) and some braising steak for OH which I will put into the slow cooker at some stage next week.  We intend to eat out of the freezer and store cupboard as much as possible from now until the end of January.  My purse will remain firmly CLOSED for as long as possible :)  I have some Nectar points to use in the new year and hope to have a couple of pounds worth of M & S vouchers soon too.  These will be used in preference to cash to buy things like bread, fruit, fresh veg and milk.

A household budget will be prepared after Christmas in preparation for 2017 but I will not be increasing the food budget element (even though prices seem to be increasing even now) but will endeavour to eke out our current amount by more frugal shopping and proper meal planning.  As far as I can tell at this stage this year's bills have come within budget, possibly just under budget so I'll let you know once I have the total in the new year.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone, love and hugs to you all but particularly to anyone who needs a special hug <<HUG>>  due to feeling poorly or lonely or in need of one.

Take care & thanks for popping in xxx

On Feeling Yuk and a Christmas Play

Today has been gorgeous; bright and sunny and reviving.  So much so that I ironed a huge basket of clothes whilst basking in the sun streaming through the window.   I didn't get much sleep last night.  I had my 'washing machine head' on, you know when everything floods the mind and you begin to mull things over :/  It didn't help that OH was snoring like a pig either.  I finally dropped off sometime after 4am and awoke feeling sluggish and not at all well.  I think I was a bit dehydrated too as I didn't have a drink during the day yesterday from 11 am until 5pm as I was out,  so a pint of water drunk slowly over the first hour also helped.

Yesterday was spent with DD at GS's primary school watching the Christmas production of Oliver.  It always makes me smile to watch and listen to the children, some bold and confident, some finding it so excruciating that they rush their lines to get it over quickly, some forgetting their lines altogether and being prompted by another child, and some silently mouthing the lines of the whole play :)
I know I should have taken a bottle of water with me but I forgot, so I had drunk a cup of tea before I left home at 11am and then nothing until a lovely mug of tea at DD's at 5pm.  I never learn....

After ironing such a huge basket of stuff I felt I deserved a bit of R and R so fished out some of my yarn stash and began a chunky waistcoat to keep me warm this winter.  A ball knits up in around 2 hours so it won't take long to finish. I'll show and tell in a few days.

It's going cold again now that it's dark so PJ's and dressing gown on and more knitting I think.  There is some good stuff on TV tonight too.  I am enjoying Lucy Worsley's telling of the six wives of Henry VIII and tonight is part 2.

Oh, forgot to say I have an eBay sale today...net funds of £13.25...yay!  It's a very good start :)

Have a lovely evening everyone and thanks so much for popping in x

Yellow Sticker Shopping

 

photo from Google

 

 

Did anyone watch the Martin Lewis TV prog last night?  It featured a woman who spends less than £3 a week on her food shopping by buying just yellow stickered items.  That woman has dedication!

Marlene from Simple Living blog has the same mindset and gets some brilliant buys on a regular basis. 'Mean Queen' Ilona has it down to a fine art too.  I rarely find anything reduced to pennies so I think I must go at the wrong time of day.  As it's a car journey to the shops it's a bit tricky to get the timing right but I must try harder, especially in the new year when big bills start to roll in and money is tight.  Already we have a bill for £1760 for our ground rent.  We have already saved up enough for that and council tax is paid by monthly direct debit, but there will be rates, water & sewerage charges, a tank full of LPG to pay for, TV Licence (end of December), the telephone line rental (paid annually up front to get it cheaper) which is due middle of January and so on.....

If we can save on the food budget it will help enormously as we also have to find money to site our touring caravan somewhere during the whole of February now that OH is no longer warden here, otherwise we will be homeless for a month!  We are hoping to take the 'van to Padstow at some stage so we need cash!

 

Ebay is calling me....must have a rummage and sort some stuff to sell....

 

Is January an expensive time for you too?  Or perhaps a different month?  What do you do to cope?

 

Have a wonderful day and stay warm x



Disgusting Coffee and Girl On The Train

My heart always sinks when I see the tag 'new improved' product on absolutely anything so when I saw it on my favourite coffee; Nescafe, I debated whether or not to risk £5 of my food budget on a 300g jar (with 50% extra free) I did risk it and sorely regret it :/  The new jar with a snazzy red lid contains the most awful instant coffee. The smell is different (not at all tempting) and the taste is nothing like I'm used to.  I emailed Nestle asking about the changes and got this reply:

Dear Angela Thank you for contacting us about Nescafé.  We were sorry to hear of your recent disappointment with the product.  Any changes to our products are the result of rigorous research and development as we believe in producing products with a great taste, consistent levels of quality and safety, value for money and convenience.   The new recipe indicated with a red lid is replacing the old blend. We always value feedback from our consumers and this is particularly important when loyal consumers comment on any changes we have made. We will pass your feedback to the brand team who take on board all the comments they receive for future product development. Thank you once again for taking the trouble to contact us. We hope that in future you will enjoy our products. (Not a cat in hell's chance of enjoying your coffee! and that bit wasn't in the original reply :D ) Kind Regards   Josh Temple Contact Centre Executive Consumer Engagement Services       Grrr... £5 wasted....   Has anyone else tried the new red lidded jar of Nescafe?  What do you think of it?   It seems that several of you have read the book and I must admit it would be one that I would have left on the shelf but for DD lending it to me.  Once I began reading, however, I couldn't put it down!  It's written in the style of darting to and fro from past to present and back again but with shortish chapters giving other character's viewpoints as well. It kept me gripped the whole way through.  The lead character, Rachel, is absolutely infuriating and I wanted to shake her sometimes but alcohol abuse has it's own problems, I guess.  I guessed who the perpetrator was long before the end but thoroughly enjoyed the book.   What did you think of it?   Well I have my PJ's on, the kettle is on (for a nice cup of tea) and I'm ready to hunker down.  I'll watch Countrywise at 8pm them TV off and a nice read.  I'm currently reading a Jenny Colgan Book (I LOVE that woman!)   Stay warm and safe everyone and thanks for popping in x

A Disappointing Day....

Thank you all so much for your good luck wishes on my last post, they are very much appreciated.

The day began at 1.30pm when we could go and set up our sales tables and I felt pleased with the Christmassy look ...

Left hand side....

Right hand side....

I went back at 6pm as requested and the first parent walking past said " wow! I'll take four!"  so four little filled knitted stockings were sold, quickly followed by a fifth one.  Great, I thought, a good start.  After then ...hardly any sales at all :(  I only sold ONE campervan pincushion and a few cards.   As soon as the show finished at 8pm the whole audience went home without even looking at the stalls. After my donation for the stall, I was left with £10.60 takings and I wasn't the only dispirited stallholder, the young lady to my right sold only one baby hat (£3.50) despite having the most beautiful crocheted baby clothes.  The lady to my left sold about 4 scarves at £2 each :/

I do hope that Janice is having a better day today in Alberta, Canada. Please let us know how it went.

Anyway, today I opened my Christmas cards from DD and GC The envelope alone cheered me up :D

In my post last weekend I mentioned my value cheesecake....

Mamasmercantile asked me to let her know how it tasted.  It isn't actually as big as it looks in the photo as it's sitting on a dessert plate but it certainly served 6 of us.  It obviously wasn't as rich as a home made one but it was light, creamy, sweetly toffee flavoured and was delicious with a bit of vanilla ice cream on the side.  Well worth £1.25 in my view (quick to defrost too) and it would be perfectly possible to cut it in half whilst frozen and keep half back for another time if there are just 2 or 3 of you.

On another subject, it has been extremely cold at the start of the week with heavy frost and around minus 9 during the night. It took 25 minutes to de ice my car on Thursday before I could go out.  Today, however, it's much warmer and it's a bit of a relief to turn down the heating.  OH has a cold (man flu, of course, which is so much worse (NOT!) so the heating has been on A LOT :(
Today is lovely.  However, Winter....I am READY.......

Warm socks, blanket at the ready and a book which is simply unputdownable.  Has anyone else read The Girl On The Train?  Now, where's my cup of tea.....

Thanks everso for popping in x

Christmas is Coming! FB Update

Just a very quick post tonight; an update to the Food Bank challenge.  Days #24 to 26 as shown and I have made a decision regarding the last 4 items which will be Terry's chocolate oranges on offer at £1 each.  At least a family will be able to share one of those :) Everything but the oranges has been taken to the FB in time for Christmas distribution.  The chocolate will be donated on Saturday.

Tomorrow is the Christmas production and fair in the village where I will have my stall.  Please wish me luck, it's at this stage I get very anxious in case no one buys anything!

Have a lovely evening and stay warm x

Lovely Carbs and FB Challenge Update

It's now early afternoon and we have had a smashing morning.  The sun has shone and it's been cold but very fresh and...no rain!  I popped out to get some food as DD and family are coming to tea but I still need to stay within budget so I bought a big pack (2.5kg) of baking potatoes (11 in the bag) for £2...

A pack of lovely Somerset cheese also £2 and which has been grated and boxed ready to top the baked spuds......

Two tins of baked beans for 50p in order to give a choice of topping......

A value cheesecake for £1.25 which should give 6 portions for dessert.....

Total cost £5.75 to feed six of us and there should be spuds and some cheese left over too.  I will start the potatoes off in the microwave then bung them in a hot oven for about 20 minutes to crisp them up (I LOVE crispy skins :) It's all a bit carb heavy but it will fill everyone up and the kids will have been to football and dance classes so they will be more than ready :)

Oh, and a quick update on the #30FestiveFoodBank challenge Days # 17 to23 as shown I am concentrating on treats at the moment and am looking for some reasonably priced chocolate to add to the box.  I'm still a bit behind but I'm determined to do it.

 

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone and thanks everso for popping in x

Amazing Freebies!

Thanks for all the comments on my last post.  I am not alone it seems in disliking the changes Blogger has introduced :(

Anyway, I was reading the latest weekly newsletter on www.moneysavingexpert.com and found a reference to some freebies offered on O2    Priority Moments.  I checked my phone, found the offer, accepted it and visited WH Smith when in town this morning.  I got a pack of 30 Christmas cards worth £6.99 absolutely FREE!

I told OH so he did the same and got these.....

Absolutely FREE! 

 

Another offer was a pack of batteries from Halfords, also FREE.  You can choose AA or AAA...

I wanted to share this as soon as possible so that readers who don't know about Priority Moments can get the free app and take advantage of any offers which appeal to them.  I tend to be slow with technology so Martin Lewis and team

Thanks a million! You are all ACE!

 

If anyone reading this can't make out what to do just leave a comment and I'll help as best I can, although I'm sure you are all much more au fait with technology than I am :)

 

Today has been a really good day for refreshing cold breezes, brisk walks and bargains!

 

Stay warm everyone and thanks so much for popping in x

Stocking Up and Changing Tack

I do wish Blogger would stop messing around with settings.  I just get used to using everything and then...bam!...something either isn't there any more or a link is gone, or they have changed the layout.  Boy, does it make me cross.  Is anyone else finding things different?

Anyway, this week we decided to try out the new, refurbished and expanded Aldi store near us.  It is right opposite Morrisons so it's no effort to shop in one store for bargains and finish off in the other.
I sometimes treat myself to a bunch of flowers and these were just £2 as opposed to £3 in Mr M. They are lovely, lets see if they last as long as my usual purchase (around 2 weeks)....

 

We found this nice bottle of red wine too at just £2.99.  The one I usually buy in Mr M's is around £4.  The eagle eyed will have noticed it has been tested too!  It's very acceptable!!

Now, I've heard of Aldi's Super 6 but never bought any before as the local store used to be dismal and off putting so I never ventured in. This week we bought a bag of pears for 59p, a swede (enormous!) 49p, cherry toms 69p (Dutch), pack of 4 leeks 49p (to make lovely soup) and a bag of red onions for 69p.  Everything looks in lovely fresh condition too.  A pack of 400g of British diced beef was £2.75 and has been cooked today in the slow cooker. It has made 3 portions (one of which OH ate tonight and declared delicious) so 2 left to chill or freeze.  I added carrots and onions to the pot but could probably have added more veg to eke it out to 4 portions instead of 3.  I'll know for next time.  Aldi shopping is definitely a keeper now....

As the weather is much colder now I will be aiming to cook more warming stews, soups, quorn lasagne, veg cottage pie etc  OH loves meat but is perfectly happy to eat veg based meals on a regular basis too and it's so much easier not to have to make a veggie meal and a meat based one for the same meal.  Tonight I had a jacket potato with cheese and salad whilst he tucked into the beef but having 2 more portions of meaty delight for him tucked in the freezer will be a godsend.

I think I need to do a store cupboard clear out and make an inventory of what I have so that I can begin to organize myself properly.  I'd like to begin to stockpile certain items so that during the (usually) freezing cold of January I can rest assured that I don't need to go out at all if it's bad underfoot.  I have a dread of falling in the ice and snow and breaking bones now that I'm getting on in years :/

Is anyone else planning to stock up in case we have the horrendously bad winter we have been warned about?

Stay warm everyone x

More Crafty Makes and Butter Fingers

Despite a very busy weekend I have managed to make a few more things for the craft stall next week, this time some little knitted stocking tree decorations.....

Each one has a tiny bit of toy stuffing in the toe to give it shape and is then filled with a small packet of Haribo sweets,  a wrapped chocolate biscuit (think Penguin style) or a Maoam bar as they are all just about the right size.  This makes the stockings light enough in weight to hang on the tree.  I've made red and white, white and red, blue and white etc but you can use all your scrap bits of wool to make whatever colour you like....

I really need to get a move on though because the more items I can make the more I might sell and the more left over for the CS to sell in time for Christmas.

Changing the subject completely, we have had two days of torrential rain here, both during the night and the following day.  It's been awful but hasn't stopped me going out (driving very carefully to avoid flooded areas).  I went to see the GC in their dance school show on Sunday and it was amazing!  GD is only 12 and took part in performing the routine from the film Chicago called 'Cell Block Tango' which I thought very racy for a girl so young :/  If you don't know it do google it and you'll see what I mean.  Apparently they couldn't perform it last year because some Nans objected.  I can see why!  Does anyone else think that innocence is being lost far too quickly these days? Anyway, the show was delightful and all the children worked very hard to pull it all together.

Today was spent chatting, drinking coffee and eating cake at Halfpenny Green Vineyard along with 9 friends and neighbours.  My kind of day!  Then a walk around the shop and craft centre too, no more money spent though, I had to keep my hands firmly in my pockets.

Tonight I decided to have a nice hot bath and, guess what....I dropped my clean warm towel right into the bath water.  Doh....I told you I was getting clumsy :(

Anyway, thanks everso for popping in.  Stay warm x

A Scald and an Update

Crikey, it was a sharp frost during the night.  Even at 10am this morning I had to de-ice the car windscreen before I could go out.  We have been spoilt up to now and this has come as a shock!

Ashamedly I have to report that I am lagging a bit in my Festive Food Bank challenge but here is the contribution for days 12 to 16
The baby lotion was on offer at just 40p in Sainsbury's (they must be changing the packaging or something) and I would have bought shampoo too (54p) but it had sold out.  I'll try to catch up on the number of items next Monday when we do the 'big shop'......

I seem to be becoming clumsier and more accident prone in my old age and somehow managed to scald my hand with steam from the kettle.  I did it a couple of weeks ago and, boy, did it hurt!  The top skin came off after a few days leaving a raw red mark and only now has it faded a bit.  If my hands get cold a purple mark now appears where the scald was.  Doh.....

It's going cold outside again now and it's already quite dark by 4pm in the afternoon.  I hate these short dark days, do you?

Thanks for popping in.  Stay safe and warm x

Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Sunday when our thoughts turn to all those men and women before us who gave their lives to serve their country and make things better for us.   And to all the service personnel who still put their lives on the line today, risking injury every day, I just want to say one thing:

 

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart,

 

God Bless and protect you



I will be taking a blogging break for a few days as there is a lot going on here but I'll be back with a #30FestiveFoodBank update next weekend.

Stay warm and safe & thanks so much for popping in x

A Sprain and a Bargain

Today has not been so cold.  Chilly, yes, fresh, yes, but not the biting cold of the last couple of days.  We had arranged to pick up two of our dearest friends and take them to lunch. My friend's hubby has recently lost his sight so they no longer have a car.  They are great company so we spent lunchtime with them and then went in to coffee when we dropped them off home. We all enjoyed it immensely.  It's great to have a catch up :)

Oh my goodness... little GS has so far this year suffered a broken finger, a cut above his eye and now this.....

Apparently, he and another boy went to kick the ball simultaneously during football at school yesterday and GS came off worse with a badly bruised, swollen & sprained foot.  Mum, as usual, ended the day spending 4 hours in A & E...sigh... the pleasures of motherhood, I remember them well  :/

A couple of days ago Tesco emailed me a loyalty points reward coupon for £1.50 so, as they had their mince pies at 89p per box, I bought two boxes which cost me just 28p so:  one box for us and one for the Festive Food Bank contribution day # 11

That's all the news for the moment, thanks everso for popping in x

Shopping and a Freebie

Just a quick post tonight 'cos I am knackered!  Today I went into town in order to complete my Christmas gift shopping then, in a burst of energy, decided to wrap everything up and be done. Woohoo!!

This week's food shop was completed on Monday & my Festive Food Bank donations for days #7, 8, 9, 10 are as shown below....

When I did the food shopping last week I was given a voucher, for my birthday gift of a pack of free cookies. I collected them yesterday.  FREE..... my favourite thing!

There was quite a frost this morning - a car window scraping before setting off - kind of frost and tonight it's raining.  We have a flood alert for a local area too :/  Uh oh....Winter is on it's way...

Stay warm folks and snuggle in!  I'll be back tomorrow x

Christmas Show and Tell

Firstly, a warm welcome to my new follower, Sue :)

I had a lovely relaxing day on Sunday.  OH was at work all day & I was expecting no visitors so out came the craft stuff .  In the back of the kitchen cupboard I found a pack of cute camper van egg cups which have never been used (the hollow where an egg sits was much too shallow) so I decided to make them into pin cushions by cutting a circle of fabric, making a line of running stitch around the edge and drawing it up into a ball which I stuffed firmly with toy stuffing.  The little ball was then glued into the hollow so it looks like a luggage bundle sitting on the roof.

They look quite nice wrapped in cellophane & tied with a bow.  Now...what price to charge...do you think £2 each is reasonable at a Christmas craft fair?

I'm experimenting with calendar making too, this is my first one this year and it hasn't turned out too badly so I'll be making more in different colours and themes.....

A bit of felt was turned into a hand sewn Christmas tree brooch by the addition of a fastener sewn onto the back...

It also crossed my mind to make felt stockings etc into little brooches too as I made myself one last year which gets compliments whenever I wear it.  I'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile enjoy your evening and stay warm, it's getting mighty cold outside in Worcestershire :) xx

Bonfires, Queues and Chilly Toes

I took DD and her family to our village bonfire night celebration last night and BOY was it cold!  We thought we were well wrapped up but wellies, even with up to 4 pairs of socks, are mighty chilly things.  I was hoping for a nice glass of red wine to warm the cockles of my heart but...nope...they were not selling wine or spirits just beer and lager, so we (the GC and I ) settled on paper cups of hot chocolate.  The queues for food and drinks were absolutely massive and little GS (of course!) was hungry so we queued for 25 minutes for a £3 burger :/  By the time the fireworks were lit we were all freezing with numb toes and noses, and to add insult to injury we were not allowed to light the sparklers we had brought with us...wha....t ??  To say we were glad to get home was an understatement of massive proportions.  I don't think we'll bother buying tickets next year. It cost me £15 for a disappointing evening out.

I had a lovely surprise on Friday morning though when the postie rang the bell and handed me a package.  It was this....

I have wanted to try this for ages but it's quite expensive to buy and this was FREE !  There was no packing note but I think it was from supersavvyme.  I do apply to test things from time to time and I must have been successful.  I can't wait to try it :)

Whilst having a drawer tidy up yesterday I found some unopened pink shower gel so that will go into the Food Bank challenge box along with some tinned custard and a cute little tin (from the pound shop) containing genuine Scottish shortbread.  That's sorted out days # 4, 5 and 6....

After lunch today I made a start on some crafting for the December fair, making felt tree decorations.  I want to make more stuff tomorrow so I'll show and tell then.

It's promising to be a very cold night again tonight so once OH gets home around 7.30pm we will lock the door and hunker down for an evening of Hygge (is that how it's spelt?)  I have my blanket ready, my knitting to hand and pj's will be ON !

Have a lovely evening everyone and please be kind to each other x

Christmas Shopping and Festive Food Bank

Firstly, a warm welcome to Sue & Sherri, my new followers :)

Thanks too for all the lovely birthday wishes you left on my last post.  On Tuesday, my actual birthday, OH treated me to the Silver Screen cinema (£3 each complete with a lovely coffee and biscuits thrown in) to see the film Jason Bourne.  There was a bit too much action for my taste with lots of car crashes and running around but I did enjoy it and felt it tied up a few loose ends in the storylines, however I was a bit shocked to find it was classified as 12A and described as having 'moderate violence' when in my view it was very violent.  When did contract killings, shootings and torture become 'moderate violence'??  I certainly would NOT like my 12 year old GC to see this kind of film.

Do you think acceptable levels of violence on screen are becoming worse?  Is it down to the violence of certain computer games making us a bit hardened to it all? I find it worrying.....

#30 Day Festive Food Bank 

For the first week I will be donating toiletries so:

Days 1 to 3......

I checked the website of our local food bank and they are in need of the following:

The needs might be different in your own area so do please check with your local branch what they are desperate for if you want to help.  I will buy the next few items on Saturday so I won't be posting 'show and tell' every day but in batches as I can afford to buy them.  Bargains will still need to be the order of the day :)

Speaking of bargains,  I met DD and GD yesterday in the local out of town shopping centre to do our annual 'Girls Only' Christmas shop.  It was exhausting but fun and we managed to get most of our gift shopping done on our set budgets.  I have found that lots of discounts are available online so arranged click and collect on many items saving at least 10% on every item (some much more)  One thing I found annoying was adult PJ's cost £10 but a child's pair cost £16!  How can that be justified?
Just in case anyone was wondering...GD wasn't skiving off school she gets 2 weeks for half term and doesn't go back until Monday next :)  It was the first time she was allowed to come with us as belief in Santa has well and truly waned now and she really enjoyed herself. 

Have a lovely evening and thanks everso for popping in x